The engineer behind the Cabagan-Santa Maria Bridge in Isabela refuted claims that a design flaw caused its collapse, asserting that the structure adhered to the Bridge Code of the Philippines.

In a report on GMA News Online, engineer Alberto Cañete explained that of the bridge's 12 arches, the truck successfully crossed nine before the collapse occurred on the tenth, according to Nico Waje’s Sunday report on 24 Oras Weekend.

“Kung mali ang design, dun palang sa unang arko, babagsak na yun," Cañete said. "Baka may naiba, I don’t know, maybe sa construction o sa pagkabit. Kasi ang naputol sa tulay ay yung connection.”

(If the design was flawed, the bridge would have failed at the first arch. Maybe there were issues with construction or installation because it was the connection that failed.)

Cañete, who authored the 1997 and 2015 versions of the Bridge Code, noted that the bridge was initially designed under the 1997 code. However, construction began in 2014, and by 2015, new standards were introduced, increasing the force requirements for bridge design. The first eight arches were later retrofitted to meet these updated guidelines.

The collapsed bridge was designed to support more than the national 45,000-ton limit, he added.

Cañete also said that the dump truck that triggered the collapse weighed 102 tons including its load—at three times the 13.5-ton axle load, he said, the truck should have been an 18-wheeler, not a 10-wheeler.

GMA Integrated News has reached out to the DPWH, which previously stated the bridge was not substandard.

While investigations are ongoing, overloading is considered the primary cause of the collapse. 

(via Mariel Celine Serquiña/DVM, GMA Integrated News)